Portable teller&#39;s cage



Patented July 5, 1949 PORTABLE TELLERS CAGE Edgar G. Holmgren, Westfield, N. J., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 31, 1946, Serial No. 594,231

2 Claims.

This invention relates to portable tellers cages for use in paying employees at various work locations.

In the previous practice of paying employees in a large organization where it has been necessary to transport monies into these organizations for the purpose of paying the employees their salaries, various methods have been used. In one instance, for example, individual pay envelopes were filled in the payroll division by one employee and distributed to the outlying locations by another employee. Due to the absence of one or more employees, the distribution usually could not be completed and any undistributed envelopes were returned directly or indirectly to the backpay teller without any of the employees involved having an opportunity to check the correctness of the amounts in the envelopes. In this and various other prior systems, responsibility is divided and any deficiency which develops results in a condition unsatisfactory to both the organization and the individual employees involved.

The object of the invention is to eliminate this division of responsibility in paying employees and to facilitate the checking of the accuracy of the distribution made by a paymaster of the money received by him.

Broadly, the invention includes a tellers cage mounted upon wheels and including money containing compartments accessible from one side only and shielded by a cage apertured for receiving pay slips and for the payment in cash to each employee presenting a slip with the amount of salary listed on the pay slip.

A plurality of drawers are provided, some to receive the pay slips, others including trays for coins and another to contain an extra supply of bills which may be fed to a drawer divided into compartments readily accessible for bills of different denominations. A cover which hangs downwardly out of the way when the cage is in use may be swung into position and locked in place to cover all of the drawers and the bill compartment while the cage is moved from one area to another.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a perspective view of the portable tellers cage.

Referrin now to the drawing, the tellers cage includes a carriage l supported by wheels ll so that the cage may be moved from one area to another.

The cage structure, which is mounted upon the carriage l0, includes a housing which is closed at both ends and one side, the other side being open and divided to receive drawers 36 for pay slips, coin drawers 31, an auxiliary bill drawer 38 and a bill tray 39. Above the drawers 36 and the bill tray 39, is a table 40 over which the employees may be paid. At one side of the table is a coin ejecting unit 4| of a commercially known type. A shield or guard 43 surrounds the table 40 and the unit 4! at one side and at both ends, the central portion of the side including a window 45 made of shatter proof glass or other suitable material, centrally apertured at 45 and positioned a short distance from the table providing an opening All through which the pay slips may be received and the monies may be presented to the employee. Auxiliary shields are hinged to the ends of the main shield 43 to extend at each side of the teller when the cage is open.

A cover 52 is hinged at 53 to the housing 35, hanging in an out-of-the-way position when the cage is open, but movable readily into closed position when it is desirable to move the cage to another location. The cover 52 extends across all of the drawers and the front part of the bill tray 39. The table 40 is cut away at 55 above the bill tray 39 to assist the teller in gaining access to the bills, the inner edge of the cutaway portion 55 being tapered. An auxiliary cover 55 is hinged at 51 to the main cover 52 to fit within the cutaway portion 55, the leading edge 58 being tapered to interlock with the tapered surface of the cutaway portion when the main cover 52 is moved into closed position. A lock 30 carried by the cover 52 is of the spring operated type to automatically lock the cover in place in cooperation with a catch 6| when the cover is moved into closed position. A key carried by the teller is required to open the lock when the cage has been moved to a new location. Handles 63 are provided at each end of the cage for use in moving the cage from one position to another. Shelves 64 are also mounted at each end of the cage for use by the employee in signing his pay slip. An aperture 65 in the table 40 enables the teller to deposit the pay slips in the upper drawer 36 after they have been inspected and the employee paid the amount indicated upon the pay slip.

The drawers 36 may be of the conventional type and of similar sizes and contour so that when one drawer is filled, it may be replaced by the other drawer. If desired one drawer equal in depth to both drawers 36 may be employed in place of the two drawers shown. The drawer 38 is also of the conventional type to receive bundles of bills of various denominations. The tray 39 is divided into four portions 61, 68, 69 and for bills of various denominations, for example, one dollar, five dollar, ten dollar and twenty dollar denominations. The teller may readily remove the bills singly from any of the portions of the tray 39 through the openings 12 to 15, inclusive. The sloping bottom-portionshof the bill tray position the last bills therein adjacent the bottom of the openings 12 to 15, inclusive, enabling the teller, without any difiiculty, to slide the bills outwardly through the openings merely by inserting a finger in any of the openings.

The drawers 3! are equipped to receive coin trays which are identical in structure. and formed to nest one within the other. Inthis manner a plurality of trays may be disposed in each of the drawers 3! enabling the teller to replenish the coins in the unit 4|.

When the tellers cage has been moved to a position where employees are to. be paid, the teller unlocks the cover and lets it swing down to the position shown in the drawing. The teller occupies the open side of the cage, receives the pay slips through the opening 41', checks them and pays each employee the amount of salary designated on his. pay slip. The required bills may be readily removed from the bill tray 39 andthe remaining change ejected from the unit 4 5. After each employee hasv been paid his. pay slip is dropped through the opening 65. into the top drawer 36. When all employees at that-position have been paid the cage is closed by swinging the covers 52 and 56 into place where they are automatically locked. into closed position. The teller, having left his. headquarters with a recorded amount of money returns with paid pay slips totaling, a given. amount and monies which, added to the total amount or the pay slips received, should equal the original amount.

In the. use of this cage the teller has sole responsibility of the: money receivedby him. and at the end of a paying operation the. accuracy of his work can be. checked in a. very simple and expeditious manner.

Although specific improvements of the invention have been-shown. and described, it will be understood that they are but illustrative and that various modifications may be made therein without departing fr0m-the scope and spirit of this invention as; definedby the appended claims.

Jhat is. claimed is: l. A portable. tellers cage. comprising a hollow body with an open side, a top for the body serving as a counter and having a cut-away portion near the middle of the open side and an opening near one side thereof, a money tray disposed in the body adjacent the cut-away portion of the counter and accessible from the open side, a drawer disposed in the body beneath the said opening in the counter to receive pay slips or the like, a guard, having a narrow opening in the front portion thereof, mounted upon the body and extending vertically from the closed side and ends of the body to surround the counter excepting at the said open side and the narrow opening adjacent the middle of the counter through which monies may be passed, and a carriage for supporting the body and for use in transporting the body from one position to another.

2. A portable tellers cage comprisin a hollow body with an open side, a top for the body serving as a counter and having a cut-away portion near the middle of theopen side and an opening near one side thereof, a money tray disposed in the body adjacent the cut-away portion of the counter and accessible from the open side, a drawer disposed in the body beneath the said opening in the counter to receive pay slips or the. like, a. guard, having a narrow opening in the front portion thereof, mounted upon the body and extending vertically from the closed side and ends of the body to surround the counter excepting at the said open side and the narrow opening adjacent the. middle of the counter through which monies may be passed, a carriage for supporting the body and for use in transporting the body from one position. to another, a cover, means whereby said cover is supported by the body and movable over the said open side, and an element carried by the cover to fill the cut-away portion of the counter and cooperate with the cover in closin the body.

EDGAR G. HOLMGREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,176,259. Williams Mar. 21, 1916 1,243,750 Miller Oct. 23, 1917 1,534,644 Howard Apr. 21, 1925 1,985,412 Jackson Dec. 25, 1934 2,245,415 Runko June 10, 1941 

